Baseball Headline

Tuesday March 24, 2009UNF Blanks No. 23 Baseball, 3-0

UNF senior Brian
Wilson broke a scoreless tie in the eighth with a two-out RBI single and junior
Preston Hale followed with a two-run double as the Ospreys (9-15) used three
unearned runs in the inning to post a 3-0 victory over No. 23 Florida (14-8) on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd at 3,194 fans
at Harmon Stadium. Senior Spencer Jones (1-0) notched five strikeouts over two
hitless innings and three UNF pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout with 12
K.

Junior
second baseman Clayton Pisani (Naples, Fla.) booted a grounder by
redshirt sophomore Kyle Dahl to start the eighth and sophomore Robbie Collier
pushed his teammate over with a sacrifice bunt off freshman Greg Larson (Longwood, Fla.) (1-1). Junior catcher HamptonTignor (Sarasota, Fla.) made a tremendous play in foul territory to retire sophomore Sam Perry for the
second out but Larson uncorked a wild pitch that pushed freshman pinch runner
Steve Hillan to third base. Junior Tony Davis (Cooper City, Fla.) issued a free pass to sophomore Michael Smith and then surrendered an RBI single
to Wilson to bring across Hillan with the game’s initial run. Hale extended
UNF’s lead to 3-0 with a double into center that plated both of his teammates.

The
Gators had loaded the bases with two out in the first inning against junior
Michael Kelly, as sophomore Josh Adams(Jacksonville, Fla.) walked, junior Buddy Munroe (Miami, Fla.) was hit by a pitch and senior Avery
Barnes (High Springs, Fla.) earned a free pass. However, the left-hander
had senior Teddy Foster (Jacksonville, Fla.) fly out to right and junior
Preston Hale made a diving catch to end the frame.

Barnesled off the fourth with a single through the right side but was erased on a
fielder’s choice by Foster. A base-hit up the middle by Pisaniput the
Gators in business with two runners aboard. After sophomore Riley Cooper (Clearwater, Fla.) flew out to center, advancing Foster to third, freshman Jerico
Weitzel (Ridgway, Pa.) struck out to end the frame.

den
Dekker was plunked to begin the fifth but was picked off first base. Tignor reached
on a fielding error by Perry at shortstop and Adams laced a single into left
for runners on the corners. Senior Antonio Franzese was called in for Kelly
(4.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K) and set down Munroe and Barnes to keep the game
scoreless.

Freshman Anthony
DeSclafani (Freehold, N.J.) pitched five strong innings for Florida, allowing two hits, and the righty had three strikeouts and permitted one walk. UNF
redshirt freshman Andrew Karmeris singled with one down in the home part of the
seventh off junior Clint Franklin (Orlando, Fla.), the Ospreys’ first
hit since a leadoff double in the third. The reliever had junior TJ Thompson
ground out, advancing Karmeris into scoring position, and had sophomore Paul
Morales fly out to center field.

Jones
took over for Franzese (2.2 IP, 3 K, 1 H) prior to the eighth and promptly struck
out the side. Soon after, Larson relieved Franklin, who tossed two scoreless
frames and gave up one hit. UNF held a 5-4 advantage in hits and each club
committed two errors. The teams will meet again tomorrow night at McKethan
Stadium. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m.